The  value  of  the 

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Gharlss  V.illiBm  ".''endt; 


The  Value  of  the  Intellectual  Life 


REV.  CHARLES  W.  WENDTE 


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Jn  /iRemoriam 
JOHN   H.  SMYTH 


SMYTH    MEMORIAL    WINDOW. 
Subject  :—"  Inspiration,"  St.  John  at  Patmos. 


The  Value  of  the  Intellectual  Life 


A    DISCOURSE 


BY 


REV.    CHARLES    W.    WENDTE 


DELIVERED   AT   THE 


FIRST  UNITARIAN   CHURCH 


Oakland,  Cal. 


Sunday,  September  i8th,  1892 


On  the  subject  of  the   Stained   Glass  Window  placed  in  the  Church  to  the 
memory  of  JOHN  H.  SMYTH,  by  his  wife,  S.  Gertrude  Smyth. 


•  t 

•  r  * 


The  Value  of  the  Intellectual  Life. 


"And  he  said  unto  me,  Write,  for  these  words  are  true  and 
faithful." — Rev.  xxi :  5. 

(  Inscription  on  the  Smyth  Memorial  Window.) 


The  purpose  of  my  discourse  this  morning  is  to 
interpret  to  you  the  legend  of  tlie  stained  glass  win- 
so  dow  which  has  been  placed  in  the  north  front  of  this 
^  church,  in  loving  memory  of  .John  ^^ .  Smyth,  and  to 
>!■  draw  from  it  the  nermanent  lessons  of  truth  and 
2  beauty  which  it  seeks  to  convey  to  our  souls. 
—I  It  is  proper  that  I  begin  with  some  account  of  the 
^  man  whom  this  beautiful  work  of  Christian  art  com- 
g   mem  orates. 

John  H.  Sm3^th  was  born  in  1830  in  Dublin,  Ireland. 
He  came  of  energetic  and  -^turdy  Scotch-Irish  stock. 
In  his  infancy  his  parents  emigrated  to  the  New 
World.  His  education  was  gained  in  Quebec,  and 
later  at  the  Jesuit  College  in  Montreal,  where  he  grad- 
uated as  a  student  of  the  law.  He  shortly  after  re- 
moved to  Milwaukee,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  The  talented  young  lawyer,  full  of  energy  and 
ambition,  longed  for  a  larger  field  for  the  develop- 
ment of  his  powers.  Accordingly,  in  1S62  he  came  to 
San  Francisco.     Entering  into  a  law  partnership,  he 

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began  a  successful  professional  career,  devoting  him- 
self especially  to  cases  involving  the  title  and  owner- 
ship of  land.  One  of  the  fruits  of  his  diligent  study 
and  legal  acumen  was  a  treatise  on  the  law  of  home- 
stead and  exemption.  This  publication  received  high 
praise  at  the  time  of  its  appearance.  It  was  the  first 
attempt  to  arrange  and  classify  this  young  but  already 
huge  body  of  law,  and  was  a  thorough  and  conscien- 
tious piece  of  work.  It  still  remains  a  valuable  book 
of  reference  for  the  legal  profession. 

But  while  Mr.  Smyth  attained  a  highly  creditable 
standing  as  an  attorney,  and  acquired  a  com- 
petence through  the  practice  of  his  profession,  his 
friends  were  wont  to  say  of  him  that  his  analytic 
mind  and  scholarly  tastes  better  fitted  him  for  a  pro- 
fessor's chair.  In  looking  over  his  literary  remains; 
I  have  myself  been  impressed  with  this  opinion. 
He  was  a  man  of  intellect  and  culture,  of  diligent 
research,  and  keen  observing  powers.  He  pos- 
sessed a  good  classical  training,  and  was  acquainted 
with  several  modern  languages.  Some  of  his  papers 
before  the  Berkeley  Literary  Club,  of  this  city,  of 
which  he  was  a  valued  member,  especially  displayed 
his  varied  gifts,  and  exhibited  no  small  degree  of  lit- 
erary talent.  Two  of  these,  memorial  tributes  to  de- 
Darted  members  of  the  Club,  Rev.  Dr.  Hamilton  and 
Hon.  John  W.  Dwindle,  were  especially  noticeable, 
and  found  their  way  into  print.  He  also  contributed 
numerous  articles  and  reviews  to  the  public  press. 

But  it  was  the  domain  of  Science  which  especially 
attracted  and  interested  him.  In  a  public  lecture 
on  The  Life  and  Times  of  Galileo,  first  delivered 
in    1872,  he  spoke   in  brave   and  eloquent  terms  of 


Charles  Darwin,  and  gave  thoughtful  consideration  to 
his  doctrine  of  the  Descent,  or  rather  Ascent,  of  INIan. 
He  incurred  no  little  theological  odium  for  this  utter- 
ance. Mr.  Smyth  was  a  member  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences,  and  of  the  California  Microscopical  and  His- 
torical Societies.  His  most  important  contribution  to 
his  favorite  study  was  a  treatise  on  Panspermy  versus 
Abiogeny,  in  which  he  discussed  with  much  acute- 
ness  the  questions  attending  the  theory  of  spontaneous 
generation.  He  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the 
researches  of  the  eminent  French  scientist  Pasteur  in 
this  field  of  investigation,  and  reaches,  at  last,  the 
conclusion  that  the  spontaneous  generation  of  life 
has  not  been  proven,  and  that  the  dictum,  "  no  life 
without  antecedent  life,"  is  firmly  established  by  the 
latest  researches.  This  essay  has  been  preserved  in 
pamphlet  form. 

In  his  private  and  domestic  life  Mr.  Smyth  was 
very  happy.  In  1867  he  married  Miss  S.  G.  Beers,  a 
student  and  teacher  of  Oberlin,  Ohio,  who  sympa- 
thized with  his  intellectual  tastes,  and  was  very  de- 
voted to  him.  A  charming  trait  in  him  was  his  equa- 
ble and  sweet  temper  in  his  home. 

He  was  deeply  interested  in  tlie  political  life  and 
reform  movements  of  his  adopted  country.  Two  of 
his  brothers  served  in  the  Union  army  during  the 
civil  war,  and  one  of  them  was  killed  on  the  field  of 
battle.  He  himself  was  only  restrained  from  a 
soldier's  career  by  the  necessity  for  one  member  of  the 
family  remaining  at  home  to  support  it.  With  voice 
and  pen  he  upheld  the  cause  of  human  liberty  and 
the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

He  was  especially  interested  in  the  domestic,  social 


and  industrial  emancipation  and  political  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  women  of  America. 

In  1S80,  symptoms  of  a  malady  of  the  brain  began 
to  reveal  themselves,  the  result  of  a  too  intense  appli- 
cation to  his  business  and  his  books.  For  several 
years  he  lingered  at  his  pleasant  home  on  San 
Pablo  avenue,  with  little  power  of  mental  concentra- 
tion, but  enjoying  the  sunshine,  and  the  trees  and 
flowers  whicli  he  had  planted  with  loving  hand.  His 
declining  years  were  tenderly  watched  over  by  his 
devoted  wnfe.  On  the  22d  of  January,  1888,  it  became 
my  mournful  duty,  as  pastor  of  this  church,  to  con- 
duct Christian  rites  of  burial  over  his  grave.  We  laid 
him  away  in  the  beautiful  cemetery  which  nestles 
among  yonder  hills  that  overlook  our  city.  His  body, 
worn  and  wasted,  we  committed  to  kindly  mother 
earth,  his  eager,  restless  mind,  his  ardent,  aspiring 
spirit  to  God  who  gave  it. 

THE    VALUE    OV    THE  INTELLECTUAL    LIFE. 

In  pondering  the  lessons  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Smytli, 
it  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  aspect  in  which  he  pre- 
sents himself  to  our  imagination  and  memory  is  that 
of  the  student,  the  scholar  and  thinker.  It  was  with 
this  conception  of  him  in  mind  that  the  following  in- 
scription was  penned  for  the  mural  tablet  which  is  to 
be  affixed  to  the  wall  near  his  window  to  accompany 
and  explain  it: 

In  studious  ways  he  sought,  with  cultured  mind, 

Guided  by  reason's  torch,  justice  and  truth  to  tind ; 

His  earnest  life  its  faithful  witness  bore 

That,  while  he  sought  the  truth,  he  loved  mankind  the  more. 

Last  Sunday  morning  I  treated  of  the  worth  and 
dignity  of  manual  labor  and  the  mechanic   arts,  as 

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illustrated  in  the  legend  of  the  memorial  window  in 
the  west  wall  of  the  church.     I  took  occasion  at  that 
time  to  utter  a  protest  against  the  unlovely  contempt 
and   arrogance   so   often    displayed    toward    occupa- 
tions involving  handwork  and  physical  toil  by  our 
educated,    professional    and    wealthy    classes.     This 
morning  we  dedicate  a  memorial  representative  to  us 
of  Intellectual  Labor,  of  the  work  of  the  student  and 
thinker  and  seer.     It  is  no  less  in  order  for  me  to  call 
your  attention  in  turn  to  the  lack  of  appreciation  and 
disparagement  which  intellectual  occupations  so  often 
encounter  from  the  so-called  working   classes.     The 
man  who  supports  himself  by  the.  labor  of  his  hands 
often  fails  to  do  justice  to  the  industry  and  self-denial, 
the  severe,  unremitting  toil  of  the  student  and  profes- 
sional man.     He  does  not  know  in  what  the  work  of 
the  scholar  and  thinker  consists,  and  hence  denounces 
him  for  his  idleness  or  envies  him  his  leisure  and  easy 
circumstances.      Many   workingmen    look   upon   the 
professors  at  our  State  University,  for  instance,  as  so 
many  drones  in  the  social  hive,  supported,  through  a 
foolish  deference  for  culture,  in  semi-idleness  at  the 
public  expense.     A  few  lectures  weekly  is  all  that  is 
required  of  them,  and  these  are  merely  an  interrup- 
tion of  their  long  vacations  and  years  of  travel  abroad 
at  the  cost  of  the  State.     How  little  do  such  critics 
understand  the  true  nature  of  the  scholar's  vocation. 
They  are  ignorant  of  his  faithful  toil  over  his  books 
or  his  instruments,  protracted  often  till  deep  into  the 
night.     They  cannot  appreciate  the  difficult  problems 
in  language,  philosophy  and  science  that  harass  his 
mind,  his  arduous  pursuit  of  truth  stretching  his  rea- 
son till  it  aches,  the  severe  discipline  of  mental  powers 


necessary   for   the   acquisition  of  knowledge,   or  the 
abilit}^  to  impart  it  to  others. 

"  In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  eat  thy  bread  " 
is  a  command  honored  by  the  brain  worker  quite  as 
much  as  by  the  artisan  or  day  laborer. 

I    recall    coming   suddenly   once    upon   the   poet 
preacher,  Robert  Collyer,  as  he  sat  at  his  study  table> 
literally  toiling  over  his  Sunday  sermon.     His  form 
was  bent  over  the  desk  before  him ;  his  face  flushed 
purple  with  intellectual  strain,  the  veins  on  his  fore- 
head were  swollen  and  knotted.     "  What,  Robert,"  I 
cried,  "  so  hard  at  work  !     I  thought  you,  of  all  men, 
wrote  by  inspiration."     "  Ah,  my  lad,  it's  oftener  per- 
spiration," was  the  reply.     No  toil  of  the  blacksmith 
Robert  Collyer,  as,  in  his  earlier  days,  he  hammered  at 
his  anvil,  caused  him  such  stress  and  pain  as  his  labor 
in  framing,  pen  in  hand,  those  winsome  sentences  that 
charm  us  with  their  blended  Anglo-Saxon  strength 
and  musical  beauty.     No  struggle  with  unruly  beasts 
refusing  to  be  shod  was  so  strenuous  and  exhausting 
as  to  restrain  and  concentrate  the  Pegasus  flight  of  his 
imagination  upon    the   serious  moral  purpose  of  his 
sermon.     One   has   well    said    that   the   scholar  also 
perspires  at  his  task,  but  it  is  inwardly  rather  than 
outwardly.     The  acquirement  of  a  clear  and  elegant 
style  in  writing  and  speaking  is  as  laborious  as  the 
acquirement  of  a  trade,  and  yet  this  style  is  only  the 
beginning  of  the   scholar's   vocation,  the  tools  with 
which  he  is  to  pursue  his  art  as  an  author  and  a 
teacher.      There  are,  indeed,  indolent  students,  inef- 
fective scholars  who  render  the  world  but  slight  ser- 
vice; but  so  are  there  lazy  workingmen,  shiftless  and 
useless   followers    of  the   mechanic   arts.      All    high 


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literary  and  scientific  culture  is  the  product  of 
years  of  unceasing  toil.  The  scholar's  task  never 
ends,  for  knowledge  and  truth  can  never  be  ex- 
hausted. The  most  laborious  and  erudite  student 
must  confess  at  the  last,  like  the  profound  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  that  for  all  his  attainments,  he  seems  to  him- 
self only  a  child  playing  by  the  seashore,  amusing 
himself  with  finding  a  curious  pebble  or  bit  of  shell 
now  and  then,  while  the  great  ocean  of  undiscovered 
truth  stretches  away  before  him. 

But  let  not  this  confession  of  the  limitations  of  hu- 
man capacity  and  knowledge  be  construed  into  a  dis- 
paragement of  the  work  of  the  scholar  and  his  value 
to  the  community.  "All  past  history  proves  the 
immensity  of  the  debt  which  the  world  owes  to  those 
who  gave  their  whole  time  and  attention  to  intellectual 
pursuits."  Without  Aristotle  and  Plato,  Moses  and 
Lycurgus,  Cuvier  and  Darwin,  Newton  and  Humboldt' 
Voltaire  and  Strauss,  Jesus  and  Luther,  human  history 
would  lose  its  brightest  pages,  and  man  still  he  groping 
in  the  errors  and  brutalities  of  his  earlier  and  savage 
condition. 

Even  the  Fine  Arts  are  not  the  mere  playthings  of 
his  leisure,  but  have  their  high  mission  to  refine  and 
exalt  his  soul,  to  fill  his  eyes  with  beauty  and  his  heart 
with  gladness.  Artists  like  Shakspeare,  Phidias,  Rafael 
and  Beethoven, — how  poor  the  world  would  be  without 
these  creators  of  the  aesthetic  treasures  of  mankind! 
The  humblest  workingman,  whose  home  is  something- 
more  than  a  roof  and  four  walls,  or  who  reads  some- 
thing besides  an  account  of  a  prize  fight  or  ball  match, 
is  a  debtor  to  art.  In  every  graceful  curve  in  the  lines 
of  his   habitation,    in  every   picture  on   its  walls,  in 

9 


every  garment  that  he  puts  on,  in  every  book  that  he 
reads,  in  every  song  he  sings,  in  every  spectacle  he 
witnesses,  in  every  sermon  he  hears,  he  renders  con- 
stant, however  unconscious,  tribute  to  the  value  of  the 
fine  arts  in  human  life. 

Yet  facility  in  art  production  is  not  an  original  gift 
to  man,  it  is  only  to  be  acquired  through  long  and 
persistent  endeavors.  The  artist  must  enter  upon  a 
ceaseless  struggle  against  technical  difficulties.  "The 
"fine  arts,"  says  P.  G.  Hamerton. "  offer  drudgery  enough 
and  disappointment  enough  to  be  a  training  both  in 
patience  and  humility."  • 

"  The  true  artist  is  born,"  we  sometimes  say.  Assur- 
edly, but  his  art  is  not  born  with  him  ;  only  his  artistic 
impulse.  His  native  capacity  is  God's  free  gift  to  him, 
the  cultivation  of  that  capacity  must  be  his  own  achieve- 
ment. Only  by  industry  and  toil,  by  self-denial  and 
self-discipline  can  he  develop  liis  gifts  and  make  them 
useful  to  mankind.  Meissonier,  the  eminent  French 
artist,  painted  very  small  canvases.  They  were  in 
such  eager  demand  that  you  would  have  to  cover  its 
surface  many  times  with  gold  to  purchase  one  of  them. 
But  Meissonier's  studies  for  each  figure  in  his  crowded 
pictures  were  painted  from  living  models  and  life-size, 
and  every  tint  and  line  in  his  paintings  was  the  fruit 
of  the  most  unremitting,  painstaking  toil. 

Again,  do  not  imagine  that  the  literary  art  is  the 
idle  and  easy  employment  of  leisure  hours.  Nine- 
tenths  of  it  is  drudgery.  Wordsworth,  we  are  told, 
shrank  from  the  composition  of  his  poems  much  more 
sensitively  than  from  his  monotonous  vocation  as  an 
agent  for  the  sale  of  government  stamps.  Most  poets, 
while  they  love  to  dream  over  the  conception  of  their 

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poems,  have  a  horror  of  the  pen.  To  engage  in  the 
labor  of  actual  composition  requires  all  their  moral 
courage  and  resolution ;  and  how  often  are  they  not 
discouraged  and  disheartened  when,  in  spite  of  all 
their  faithful  endeavors,  their  imagination  and  senti- 
ment spurn  the  fetters  of  language  and  verse.  When 
a  poet  tells  you  his  lines  cost  him  little  or  no  effort, 
depend  upon  it  he  is  not  aiming  at  the  highest  in  his 
art—  the  divine  flame  is  not  in  him.  The  only  poetry 
worth  writing  or  reading  is  that  which  has  racked 
one's  brain,  or  is  coined  out  of  the  agony  of  one's  heart. 

Let  us  then  honor  intellectual  labor  in  all  its  forms. 
The  lawyer  who  pores  all  day  with  intense  mind 
over  his  briefs  and  law  books,  and  takes  the  varying 
fortunes  of  his  clients  before  judge  and  jury  home 
with  him  to  ponder  in  the  still  night-watches;  the 
doctor,  whose  anxious  thought  is  concerned  with  the 
recovery  of  his  patients,  and  the  fearful  issues  of  life 
and  death  that  so  often  depend  upon  his  skill  and 
faithfulness;  the  business  man,  carrying  in  his  mind 
the  infinite  ramification  and  detail  of  a  large  mercan- 
tile or  manufacturing  establishment  —  are  not  these 
workmen,  who  need  not  to  be  ashamed,  faithful  toilers 
for  the  upbuilding  of  the  world  in  health  and  wealth, 
truth  and  knowledge,  grace  and  goodness? 

Men  do  not  appreciate  this  as  they  should.  AVhen 
I  visited  a  German  relation  of  mine,  years  ago,  and 
told  him  that  I  was  about  to  study  for  the  minis- 
try, he  exclaimed,  with  sincere  regret,  "0,  why 
couldn't  you  have  chosen  something  useful?"  I 
might  have  answered  him  with  the  words  of  Jesus  • 
"Man  cannot  live  by  bread  alone."  Nay,  nor  by 
the  sharpened   intelligence  that  furnishes  him  with 


11 


bread.  The  minister,  if  he  be  true  to  his  calling,  is 
no  idler.  He  has  it  within  possibility  to  be  one  of  the 
most  useful  men  in  the  community.  To  study  not 
only  books,  but  human  nature,  not  only  theology,  but 
all  arts  and  knowledges  that  enrich  and  adorn  human 
life;  to  preach  and  teach,  to  comfort  and  inspire,  to 
lend  a  hand  and  lead,  to  seek  for  truth  and  rebuke 
unrighteousness,  to  try  and  make  himself  a  better 
man  for  his  own  and  his  brethren's  sake  —  here  is 
work  enough  to  do,  to  confute  the  vulgar  notion  that 
he  does  not  earn  the  bread  he  eats. 

The  workingman  toils  hard  and  for  a  modest  in- 
come (with  all  my  heart  I  pray  for  its  large  increase), 
but  when  his  eight  or  ten  hours'  stint  is  done  his  toil 
is  over,  his  mind  is  free  from  care,  he  is  his  own  master, 
and  can  give  himself  to  whatever  pursuit  or  pleasure 
he  will.  The  work  of  a  pastor,  a  doctor,  a  business  man 
or  lawver  is  never  done.  His  cares  follow  him  into  his 
home,  they  haunt  his  pillow,  they  pursue  him  on  his 
vacations,  until  he  looks  with  envy  upon  the  brawn  and 
muscle,  the  healthy  appetite  and  sweet  sleep  of  the 
toiler  at  forge  or  bench  or  plow. 

How  wrong,  then,  are  the  popular  cavils  and  slurs 
upon  intellectual  labor!  Not  only  is  it  equal  in 
severity  and  hardship  to  manual  toil,  but  in  its  pro- 
ductive results  upon  human  welfare  and  happiness  it 
is  of  equal  if  not  superior  importance  to  the  so-called 
industrial  occupations  of  man.  "  Of  all  the  toils,"  says 
Philip  Hamerton,  "  in  which  men  engage,  none  are 
nobler  in  their  origin  or  their  aim  than  those  by 
which  they  endeavor  to  become  more  wise."  Any 
jealousy  and  disparagement  on  the  part  of  these  two 
classes  in  human  society,  the  brain-workers  and  the 

12 


hand-workers,  is  unwise  and  unjust.     Each  needs  the 
other.     Each    shoukl   respect   and   honor   the   other. 
Such  is  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament.     "For 
now  are  there  many  members,  yet  but  one  body;  and 
the  eye  cannot  say  unto  the  hand,  '  I  have  no  need  of 
thee,'  nor  again  the  head  to  the  feet, '  I  have  no  need 
of  you.'     .     .     .     There  shoukl  be  no  scliism  in  the 
body,  but  the  members  should  have  the  same  care  one 
for  another.     And  whether  one  member  suffer  all  the 
members  suffer  with  it,  or  one  member  be  honored  all 
the  members  rejoice  with  it.     .     .     .     But  covet  earn- 
estly the  best  gifts."     Thus  the  Gospel  teaches  the 
equal  right  and  honor  of  all  labor,  whether  the  hand 
or  brain  is  predominently  employed  in  it.     No  honest 
work  is  disgraceful  to  man,  whatever  it  be.     It  is  not 
his  particular  vocation,  but  the  manner  in  which  he 
pursues  it,  that  makes  it  honorable  or  dishonorable. 

Yet  we  are  to  "  covet  the  best  gifts,"  for  while  it  is 
apparent  that  all  kinds  of  work  may  be  equally  hon- 
orable, so  far  as  individual  character  and  merit  are 
concerned,  not  every  occupation  is  of  equal  value  to 
the  community  and  the  welfare  of  man  in  general. 
The  toil  of  a  road-mender  or  trench-digger,  however 
faithfully   performed,    can    never   be  as  great  a  con- 
tribution to  the  welfare  of  his  country  or  his  kind  as 
that  of  a  great  jurist,  or  poet,  or  thinker.     One  Edison 
is  worth  more  than  a  million  Chinese  coolies  to  the 
world.     A  George  William  Curtis,  dedicating  his  great 
brain  and  heart  to  the  upbuilding  of  true  political  and 
social  ideals  among   his  countrymen,  is  worth  more 
to  American  civilization  than   a  hundred    thousand 
foreign-born  voters  in  New  York,  whose  influence  and 
ballot  are  devoted  to  overthrowing  them.    While  there 

13 


exists  in  mankind  this  native  disparity  of  intellectual 
and  moral  endowment  there  can  be  no  absolute 
equality  among  men.  The  rewards  for  labor  may  be 
more  equitably  adjusted,  and  manual  toil  receive  a 
larger  share  of  the  world's  goods  and  opportunities. 
This  seems  to  have  been  in  Jesus'  thought  also,  for  in 
his  parable  of  the  talents,  he  wdio  had  received  the  ten 
and  he  who  had  received  the  five  talents  were  promised 
the  same  reward — the  joy  of  their  Lord.  But  no  human 
adjustment  of  compensation  for  labor  can  ever  remove 
native  differences  of  endowment  or  make  one  occu- 
pation equal  to  another  in  importance  to  mankind. 
Even  if  the  Socialistic  philosophy  were  to  be  put 
into  practice,  and,  through  governmental  compulsion, 
every  worker,  whether  with  brain  or  hand,  be  equally 
compensated,  still  intellectual  and  moral  superiority 
would  make  itself  felt,  and  those  vocations  which  ex- 
ercised the  most  wide-reaching  influence  on  human 
affairs  w^ould  receive  the  greatest  consideration  and 
dignity, — w^ould  be  most  admired,  sought  after  and 
rewarded  with  social  distinction.  This  would  be  the 
more  true  if  those  who  pursued  them  were  inspired,  as 
they  should  be,  by  a  lofty  sense  of  moral  obligation 
to  their  Creator  and  their  kind,  and,  remembering 
that  from  those  who  have  received  much,  much  is  re- 
quired, dedicated  their  exceptional  gifts  and  opportu- 
nities to  the  service  of  the  common  brotherhood. 

The  window  which  has  been  set  in  yonder  wall  to 
commemorate  a  departed  student  and  professional 
man,  represents  to  us  the  value  and  dignity  of  intel- 
lectual labor. 

But  all  high  forms  of  intellectual  activity  involve 
a  corresponding  moral  endeavor.  In  them  the  human 


14 


mind  becomes  conscious  of  its   larger  and    spiritual 
relations,  its  kinship  with  the  Eternal  and    Divine. 
This   loftier   exercise  of  the  intellectual  faculties    in 
man  we  call  Inspiration,  and  it  is  this  great  spiritual 
fact  which  our  window  symbolizes  and  glorifies.     In 
a  central  circular  panel   is  displayed  upon  a  pearly 
background,  patterned  after  the   mosaics   of   ancient 
Byzantine  art,  the  seated  figure  of  St.  John,  the  Seer 
of  Patmos.     His  red  prophetic  mantle  envelops  him. 
In  one  hand  he  holds,  unrolled,  the  scroll  of  revela- 
tion, in  the  other  an  uplifted  pen.     His  face,  swept  by 
his   venerable   and    flowing    beard,   is    upturned    to 
heaven,   with  a  listening  and  rapt  expression.     The 
whole  attitude  of  the  figure  is  one  of  the  most  eager, 
intense  expectancy.   Above  is  inscribed  the  injunction 
from  the  Apocalypse  :  "  And  He  said  unto  me.  Write, 
for  these  words  are  true  and  faithful."  (Revelations, 
xxi,  5.)     Eight  panels  surround  the  central  opening, 
and  are  filled  with  representations  of  flowers  and  fruit 
employed  in  Christian  symbolism,  the  lily,  the  pas- 
sion-flower, the  pomegranate   and   the   vine.      These 
panels  are  further  connected  with  the  central  picture 
by  a  circle  of  cherubic  and  winged  heads  which  sur- 
rounds it. 

Inspiration  is  the  theme  of  this  beautiful  work  of 
Christian  art.  But,  remember,  inspiration  is  not  an 
absolutely  free  gift  of  God,  disassociated  from  all 
human  effort.  It  presupposes,  not  a  passive  and  per- 
ceptive, but  an  active  and  responsive  condition  of  the 
mind.  These  two  must  co-operate — the  purpose  of 
God  and  the  will  of  man,  the  influx  of  the  divine 
spirit  and  the  open  and  eager  mind  that  yearns  to  re- 
ceive it. 

15 


295587 


Ill  even  the  most  usual  exercise  of  the  thinking 
powers  the  mind  can  act  only  as  it  is  quickened  from 
above.  How  much  greater,  then,  is  its  obligation  to 
divine  impulses  when  it  is  concerned  with  the  pro- 
founder  problems  of  human  investigation!  The  holy 
spirit  of  God  is  to  the  mind  what  light  is  to  the  eye. 
Its  office  is  not  to  impart  truth,  but  to  show  it;  to  so 
awaken  the  intelligence  and  kindle  the  moral  and 
spiritual  nature  of  man  that  he  may  see  the  truth, 
love  the  good  and  do  the  right;  that  with  fear  and 
trembling  he  may  work  out  his  own  salvation,  and  yet 
know  that  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  him  to  do  His 
will  and  pleasure. 

Inspiration  comes  to  men  in  different  forms,  ac- 
cording to  the  character  of  their  seeking.  Moses  and 
Gladstone  are  inspired  to  make  laws,  the  Psalmist  to 
pour  out  his  soul  in  song,  Plato  and  Emerson  to  im- 
part wisdom,  Isaiah  and  Wendell  Phillips  to  utter 
prophecies,  Luther  and  Channing  to  free  the  soul  of 
man,  Raphael  and  Mozart  to  breathe  beauty  into  the 
sordid  world,  Jesus  to  lift  it  by  his  cross  towards 
heaven  and  God.  And  not  only  these  crowned  spirits 
of  the  race — every  honest  thought,  however  humble, 
every  loving  deed,  every  unselfish  prayer,  from  the 
lowliest  as  well  as  the  highest-placed  among  men, 
has  its  Godward  side.  "  There  are  diversities  of  gifts, 
but  the  same  spirit,  diversities  of  operations,  but  it  is 
the  same  God  who  worketh  all  in  all." 

But  this  implies  that  man  must  do  his  part,  the 
human  intelligence  and  will  must  co-operate  with  the 
Divine  Purpose.  Then  truly  the  voice  is  heard  from 
heaven:  "Write,  for  my  words  are  true  and  faithful!" 
then    a   great   conviction   seizes   upon   each    faithful 

16 


servant  of  the  Most  Iligb,  whatever  his  gift  or  station; 
then  the  mind  is  clear,  the  heart  enhirged,  truth  is 
seen  at  firsthand,  right  is  second  nature,  and  God  is 

all  in  all. 

To  this  highest  form  of  the  intellectual  life  our 
window  is  dedicated.  As  from  Sunday  to  Sunday  it 
lends  its  beauty  to  our  service,  may  its  legend  and 
lesson  sink  deep  into  our  hearts,  encouraging  us  with 
the  reminder  that  the  Divine  inspiration  is  continuous 
and  universal.  It  quickens  the  thought  and  nerves 
the  will  of  men  to-day  as  truly  as  in  ancient  and  Bible 
times.  It  is  ours  in  fullness  proportioned  to  our  obe- 
dience and  trust,  and  we  may  sing  with  grateful  confi- 
dence in  the  Divine  Presence  and  Communication,  the 
inspired,  hymn  of  Whittier: 

All  souls  that  struggle  and  aspire, 

All  hearts  of  prayer  by  thee  are  lit; 
And,  dim  or  clear,  thy  tongues  of  fire 

On  dusky  tribes  and  centuries  sit. 

Nor  bounds,  nor  clime,  nor  creed  thou  knowest; 

Wide  as  our  need  thy  favors  fall ; 
The  white  wings  of  the  Holy  Ghost 

Stoop,  unseen,  o'er  the  heads  of  all. 


17 


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